By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer / San Antonio Express-News, 2026-11-03 15:14:34
2026年2月5日周四，在达拉斯举行的NBA比赛中，达拉斯独行侠前锋库珀·弗拉格 (Cooper Flagg)（32号）上半场持球突破圣安东尼奥马刺前锋维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama)（1号）的防守。（美联社照片/Gareth Patterson）
马刺对达拉斯后卫凯里·欧文 (Kyrie Irving) 手中有球时能造成多大伤害再熟悉不过了。他们也已经初步见识了库珀·弗拉格 (Cooper Flagg) 惊人的天赋。
周三晚上在弗罗斯特银行中心，他们将首次近距离面对一支尚未遭遇过的独行侠。
如果一切按计划进行，欧文和弗拉格将健康地披挂上阵，首次在球场上联手对阵马刺。
“我觉得就算没有他们俩，他们已经很强了，”马刺后卫斯蒂芬·卡斯尔说，“再加上这两个人，他们会危险得多。”
弗拉格，这位19岁的2025年选秀状元，已经显露出让对手防守头疼的迹象。
34岁的欧文比弗拉格早14年进入NBA，当年被克利夫兰以状元身份选中，本该参与弗拉格的“亮相仪式”。然而，一次前交叉韧带撕裂让他缺席了这位年轻队友的整个新秀赛季。
10月24日在达拉斯，两人都未能出战，马刺在美国航空中心以122-106取胜，拿下赛季首胜。
预计两人都将出现在周三的全美直播复赛中，这让独行侠成为一支截然不同的球队。
达拉斯目前战绩平平，4胜3负。但当弗拉格和欧文同时出场时，独行侠的战绩是4胜1负。
“这对我们来说将是一次很好的考验，”马刺锋卫摇摆人德文·瓦塞尔说，“库珀和凯里都是非常出色的球员。他们没有上限。”
万圣节前夜，欧文和弗拉格联手砍下68分，向全联盟预告了他们联手会有多可怕。
欧文得到35分，弗拉格轰下33分，独行侠送给西南分区领跑的休斯顿火箭本赛季唯一一场败仗。
尽管两人的组合在周三必将备受关注，但欧文似乎意识到，他在达拉斯最重要的贡献可能不止于球场上的表现。他视自己为帮助弗拉格准备接管球队的人。
2024年10月24日周四，在德克萨斯州达拉斯举行的NBA比赛中，达拉斯独行侠的凯里·欧文 (Kyrie Irving)（11号）下半场持球突破圣安东尼奥马刺的防守。（美联社照片/Albert Pena）
这位老将后卫已经接受了以这位少年队友为核心打造未来的理念。
“他将带领这支球队走向未来，”欧文谈到弗拉格时说，“这一点你完全可以放心。”
事实上，周三的对决或许能让我们提前窥见一段延续多年的德州恩怨。
在NBA赛季前对联盟总经理的年度调查中，30位高管中有28位选择了马刺的维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 作为当今建队首选。
只有另外两名球员获得选票：俄克拉荷马城的谢伊·吉尔杰斯-亚历山大，联盟背靠背的常规赛最有价值球员。
以及弗拉格。
达拉斯的未来无疑一片光明。
对于欧文来说——在弗拉格完全兑现天赋之前，他早已离开NBA舞台——他对独行侠当下凭借这对星光熠熠的组合所能取得的成就同样充满期待。
“高水平的篮球运动员，无论年龄大小，只要把我们放在场上，我们就能赢下一些比赛，”欧文说，“我很期待与他共同成长的机会。”
马刺带着始于达拉斯的五连胜进入周三的比赛，当时他们击败的是一支缺兵少将的独行侠。
那五场胜利中有四场净胜两位数。唯一的例外是上周三在犹他的一场117-111加时险胜。
周一在弗罗斯特银行中心的复赛中，马刺没有再让悬念出现，凭借赛季最佳防守表现以119-97大胜。
但正如他们在赛季开局0胜2负后没有慌乱一样，马刺也不会因五连胜而忘乎所以。
“赛季很漫长，”前锋凯尔登·约翰逊说，“我们必须继续进步。我觉得我们达到自己的标准了吗？有时候达到了。但我觉得我们还能做得更好吗？能。
“我们可以进步，我们也一定会进步。”
在经历了NBA历史上最令人震惊的管理层失误之一后，独行侠因弗拉格而意外获得了重建的基石。
2025年2月，时任总经理尼科·哈里森将全明星后卫卢卡·东契奇交易至洛杉矶湖人，这笔交易遭到广泛嘲讽，最终也让哈里森丢掉了工作。
四个月后，达拉斯抽中状元签，并用它选中了弗拉格——这位杜克大学天才被普遍视为联盟下一个伟大的建队基石。
去年夏天，独行侠又通过交易得到另一位前状元——2024年状元扎卡里·里萨谢，他在亚特兰大的两个赛季里一直难以站稳脚跟。
正是欧文与弗拉格的组合，给了达拉斯在着眼未来的同时保持当下竞争力的最好机会。
“很多时候我们意识到，我们可以更多地互相帮助，”弗拉格说，他周三之前本赛季场均得到26.8分，“有很多学习的过程。但我们能做的还越来越多，可以分担压力，让彼此更轻松。”
在弗罗斯特银行中心，没有任何球员的单场得分超过欧文——2015年3月他代表克利夫兰狂砍57分，十多年过去，这仍是该球馆的纪录。
弗拉格的履历上已经有一场51分的比赛，那是上赛季他“折磨”奥兰多时砍下的。
两人在达拉斯联手的初步效果是积极的。
独行侠第一年执教的主帅达斯蒂·梅对两位球星逐渐找到默契的表现颇为满意。
“我们看起来像一支球队了，”梅说。
周三，势头正盛的马刺将首次近距离面对这支版本的独行侠。这可能不会是最后一次。
“我们准备好了，”卡斯尔说。
由生成式 AI 翻译，翻译内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
查看原文：Streaking Spurs brace for Mavericks' Irving-Flagg one-two punch
Streaking Spurs brace for Mavericks’ Irving-Flagg one-two punch
Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) drives to the basket against San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) in the first half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)
The Spurs are familiar with the type of damage Dallas guard Kyrie Irving can inflict with a basketball in his hands. They have already gleaned an early glimpse of Cooper Flagg’s prodigious talent.
Wednesday night at the Frost Bank Center, they get their first up-close look at a version of the Mavericks they haven’t yet encountered.
If all goes according to plan, Irving and Flagg will be healthy, in uniform and sharing the court against the Spurs for the first time.
“I think they were already good without them, too,” Spurs guard Stephon Castle said. “You add those two guys, it makes them a lot more dangerous.”
Flagg, the 19-year-old No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft, is already showing signs of becoming a handful for opposing defenses.
The 34-year-old Irving, selected first overall by Cleveland 14 years before Flagg arrived to the NBA, was supposed to be part of that introduction. Instead, a torn ACL sidelined him for all of his young teammate’s rookie season.
Neither player was available Oct. 24 in Dallas, when the Spurs collected their first victory of the season with a 122-106 triumph at American Airlines Center.
Both are expected to be in the lineup for Wednesday’s nationally televised rematch, which makes the Mavs a considerably different proposition altogether.
Dallas enters with a modest 4-3 record. With Flagg and Irving both in the lineup, however, the Mavericks are 4-1.
“It’s going to be a really good test for us,” Spurs swingman Devin Vassell said. “Coop and Kyrie are really good players. They don’t have a ceiling on them.”
A night before Halloween, Irving and Flagg gave the NBA a 68-point preview of how scary they could be together.
Irving had 35 points, Flagg pumped in 33 and the Mavericks handed the Southwest Division-leading Houston Rockets their only defeat of the season.
For all the attention their partnership figures to draw Wednesday, Irving seems to recognize that his most important contribution in Dallas may extend beyond what he does on the court. He sees himself helping prepare Flagg to take over the franchise.
Dallas Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving (11) drives to the basket during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the San Antonio Spurs, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024, in Dallas, Texas. (AP Photo/Albert Pena)
The veteran guard has already bought into the idea of a future built around his teenage teammate.
“He’s going to lead this franchise into the future,” Irving said of Flagg. “You can definitely bank on that.”
Indeed, Wednesday’s matchup could offer an early preview of a Texas rivalry that lasts for years.
In the NBA’s annual survey of the league’s general managers conducted before the season, 28 of 30 executive chose the Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama as the player that would choose to start a franchise with today.
Only two other players received votes: Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the league’s back-to-back Most Valuable Player.
And Flagg.
The future is no doubt bright in Dallas.
For Irving, who will have long exited the NBA stage before Flagg hits full fruition, there is also excitement about what the Mavericks can accomplish with their star-studded pairing in the present tense.
“High-level basketball players, no matter the age, you put us out there, we’re going to win some ball games,” Irving said. “I’m looking forward to the opportunity to grow with him.”
The Spurs enter Wednesday on a five-game winning streak that began in Dallas, against a short-handed Mavericks squad.
Four of those five wins have come by double digits. The exception was a 117-111 overtime escape at Utah last Wednesday.
The Spurs ensured there was no such suspense in Monday’s rematch at the Frost Bank Center, rolling to a 119-97 victory behind their best defensive performance of the season.
But just as they refused to panic after opening the season 0-2, the Spurs aren’t about to get carried away by a five-game run.
“It’s a long season,” forward Keldon Johnson said. “We’ve got to continue to get better. Do I feel as though we’re playing to our standard? At times, yes. But do I feel like we could do better? Yes.
“We can improve and we will improve.”
In Flagg, the Mavericks have stumbled into a foundation for rebuilding after one of the most stunning front-office blunders in NBA history.
In February 2025, then-general manager Nico Harrison sent All-Star guard Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in a deal that was widely ridiculed and ultimately cost Harrison his job.
Four months later, Dallas landed the No. 1 pick in the draft and used it on Flagg, the Duke phenom widely viewed as the league’s next great franchise cornerstone.
Last summer, the Mavericks added another former No. 1 pick, trading for 2024 top choice Zaccharie Risacher, who had struggled to find his footing in two seasons with Atlanta.
It is the pairing of Irving and Flagg that offers Dallas its best chance to remain dangerous in the present while building for the future.
“There’s a lot of moments when we realize we can help each other more,” said Flagg, who enters Wednesday averaging 26.8 points this season. “There’s been a lot of learning experiences. But there’s more and more we can do and alleviate some pressure and make it easier for one another.”
No player has scored more points in a game at the Frost Bank Center than Irving, whose 57-point eruption for Cleveland in March 2015 remains the arena record more than a decade later.
Flagg already boasts a 51-point game on his resume, having tortured Orlando with that total last season.
The early returns on their pairing in Dallas have been positive.
First-year Mavericks coach Dusty May has liked what he has seen as the two stars begin to find their rhythm together.
“We look like a team,” May said.
On Wednesday, the surging Spurs will get their first up-close look at this version of the Mavericks. It might not be their last.
“We’re ready for it,” Castle said.
By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer / San Antonio Express-News